


Mystery at Mapleton

by NancyandNed



Series: Today Until Forever [8]
Category: Nancy Drew - Carolyn Keene
Genre: Case Fic, Detectives, Established Relationship, F/M, Injury, Mystery, Teen Romance, Teenagers, Worry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-11
Updated: 2020-04-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:22:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23600767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NancyandNed/pseuds/NancyandNed
Summary: Sixteen year old Nancy investigates a string of break ins in Mapleton and ends up being hurt during a case for the first time.
Relationships: Nancy Drew/Ned Nickerson
Series: Today Until Forever [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1665985
Kudos: 11





	1. Chapter 1

Ned drummed his fingers against the steering wheel impatiently as the car in front of him moved just a few more feet.

It was a Saturday in late April and although neither of them had school, they hadn't planned to hang out as Nancy had plans with George and Bess.

But while he was just finishing up with some errands, she had texted him that she might have figured out the case and was on her way to his house.

The case in question was the string of break-ins in Ned's neighborhood of Mapleton. The first one had happened last Monday and since then there had been one every night. Ned's house had been the third one attempted, on Wednesday night. It hadn't been successful as they'd woken but all they had seen of the burglar were the tail lights of his car disappearing around the corner of the street.

Although, it might have been a little wrong to call the person a burglar. Nothing had ever been stolen from the four houses affected so far. It was as mysterious as it could be and that is why Ned had asked Nancy to help figure it out. There had been some mess and two of the break-ins had occured during broad daylight but other than that they had found out nothing more incriminating when he and Nancy had interviewed his neighbours over the past two days.

It had had them both stumped so it had been quite a surprise when she had suddenly texted him. By the time he had seen it it already been half an hour and he had called her to let her know that his parents were out and that he was on his way. She hadn't picked up so assuming she was driving, he had sent her a message.

By the time he reached home, it had already been over an hour so he wasn't surprised to see Nancy's new blue convertible parked in his driveway. It was a quite a sweet ride, gifted by her father on her sixteenth birthday a couple of weeks ago. It was empty.

Expecting to see her sitting on the swing in the porch, he got out of his car. As he got closer he realised that his front door was slightly ajar.

Strange, he thought. He distinctly remembered locking it before he had left. His parents couldn't be back home so soon either, in fact they weren't supposed to be back before late evening.

Was it the intruder? And more importantly, where was Nancy? Feeling fear build up in the pit of his stomach, Ned walked swiftly into the house, calling out her name.

Nobody responded and nothing seemed to be out of place either. But when he reached the kitchen, he saw that the back door was wide open. Walking swiftly into his backyard, he called out her name again.

He started walking towards the shed at the corner of his backyard, when something on the ground caught his eye.

Bending down to pick it up, he realised it was the flashlight keychain he had gifted Nancy the previous year. Her car keys were attached to it.

Panic gripped him. Where was Nancy? He rushed over to the shed. They never locked it as all it held were a few old tools. The important stuff, they stored in the garage but his dad sometimes used it as a workshop to do his woodworking.

Throwing open the door, he stopped dead in his tracks.

The bright light shone onto a figure lying prone on the floor at the corner. The light glinted off strawberry blonde hair.

His blood ran cold. Nancy.

He dropped down on his knees next to her and called her name but she didn't move.

What or who had done this to her? She hadn't just fallen, there was absolutely no doubt that there had been a struggle. The shelf next to door had tipped over, it's contents scattered on the floor. There were scratches on her arms.

God, she was not moving. Should he call an ambulance? Where was his phone? Dang, in his hurry he had left in his car.

He had to move her out of here. But if she was badly injured, moving her might take things worse. Hell, he was panicking now.

Why wasn't she waking up? How long had she been here?

Ned put one of his hands on her cheek and held her hand tightly with the other, willing her to wake. A few times after he had repeated her name, she began to stir.

"Nancy..Nan. It's me, Ned. Can you hear me?"

Her eyes fluttered open and he felt himself releasing a sigh.

He wasn't still sure how badly she was hurt but seeing her conscious made him relax just a tiny bit.

"Hmmm ouch." She groaned as she touched the back of her head, rising up slowly.

She winced when his fingers lightly brushed over an obvious bump at the back of her scalp.

"What happened?" He asked gently, as he helped her into a sitting position.

"I found the intruder." She smiled wryly. "Or more like the intruder found me. I'll explain once I get some ice on this nice bump he gave me."

Without a word, Ned scooped her in his arm and carried her inside the house. She didn't protest.

Settling her on the couch, he went into the kitchen to prepare an ice pack for her. When he came back, she was sitting up.

"Thanks." She said as he handed her the ice. She pulled him down beside her and gave him a soft kiss.

"Are you sure you're okay, Nan? You've never been injured on a case before. Do want me to drive you to the hospital? Or call your dad or Hannah?"

"I'm okay, Ned. Don't worry. I wasn't even out for too long. Maybe about half an hour." Nancy said, lacing her fingers with his.

He looked at her for a moment and spoke only when he was sure she was okay.

"Okay then. Now spill."


	2. Chapter 2

"Let me start at the beginning." She said. "So you know I was supposed to spend the afternoon at George's house today. By the time I arrived, Bess was there there already. And so was Rosalie. She had come over but since Geoff was still out, she hung out with us until he came back."

Rosalie was George's brother's girlfriend. They had both been seniors at River Heights High and had graduated last year. Now, they went to University of Chicago and were home for spring break.

"Anyway." Nancy continued. "Rosalie had something really interesting to tell us. Earlier this morning, two police detectives had come to her house to enquire about whether they had seen anyone in a green Chevy at the yard sale they'd had last weekend. And to know if they had any record of who was at the sale."

Rosalie's mother was a member of one of the biggest NGOs in River Heights. The yard sale was organized as a charity event to fund a new wing in the Children's hospital. Rosalie had asked Nancy, George and Bess for help and when Ned had heard about it, he had volunteered to help too.

And he had been glad. The reception had been huge and it had seemed like half of River Heights had been there. From what he had been told, they had collected more than they'd ever imagined.

"But what does that have in connection to the break ins here?"

"That's where it gets interesting." Nancy said, her eyes twinkling. "Rosalie got the policemen to reveal quite a lot. So you might know the River Heights Museum has an exhibition coming up?"

He nodded.

"Well, one of the paintings that was supposed to be there was brought from Chicago last month. Yesterday the museum workers started setting up the exhibits and that's when they realised the painting was missing. That is, it had been stolen sometime within the last ten days because that's when they had last checked. Now, this might seem like I'm going off on a tangent but hear me out. A family living close to the museum reported that their green Chevy was stolen while they were out of town. The car was found abandoned in an alley near the park where we had the sale last Wednesday and returned to the family. At the time the police figured some kid had just taken it for a joyride."

Ned still hadn't figured out where she was going with this, but knowing her he was certain there was some connection.

"After the theft was discovered, CCTV footage revealed that the car had been at the museum last Sunday. The cameras around the street tracked it to the park. The police did a thorough check of the car again and this time found a half ripped up tag with barcode which was traced to the painting. And so now the police have reason to believe that the art thief spent some time at the sale."

"So the art thief escaped in a stolen car, spent a while at the yard sale for some reason and then left and got rid of the car? And that's why the police are now looking for anyone who saw him." He looked into her eyes for confirmation.

She nodded before continuing.

"Now here's where it gets interesting. At the sale if you remember I was handling the section right behind Rosalie. Sometime in the afternoon a woman came up to her to buy a painting. I had my back to them but I remember because they talked quite a while as the painting didn't have a pricetag. That wasn't unusual because dozens of people had brought in stuff just that morning and there hadn't been enough time to evaluate everything. Rosalie asked for ten dollars but the lady was willing to give a hundred as it was for a good cause. Then she said the church in the painting looked just like the one in Mapleton, near her house and that's when I turned because I know quite a few of your neighbors and I was wondering whether I knew her too."

"Did you?"

"No. All I saw was the back of a very tiny woman, tinier than Bess with short grey hair with streaks of white. But I did see two very interesting things. One was the painting. I caught only a glimpse but what it looked like was a wedding was taking place onside a church. And the second thing was a man. Grey eyes, in his late thirties. He was standing a few feet behind her and he caught my eye because he looked utterly confused. And also because he had an awful scar all the way from here to here."

She traced a finger from her nose all the way down to her jaw.

Ned suddenly connected the dots.

"Wait...you think the painting sold was the stolen one and the man had something to do with it?"

"Yes. After Rosalie left I kept thinking about this. The police hadn't mentioned whose or what painting was stolen. But it kept nagging me so I pulled up the museum's website and all they had was a listing of all the artists. And together these artists had over a hundred paintings."

"Did you find anything interesting?"

"I didn't. But George did. She found an interview of the Museum's Director by a student reporter from the Art School,

from last month. He had been asked about the most famous painting that was going to be there and he revealed it was named 'The Bride'. On a hunch we decided to find out more about the painting. And that was extremely difficult because it had been donated by a wealthy businessman to the Chicago Museum just a few months back and had never been put on display. But we finally managed to find a picture. And look."

She pulled up a picture on her phone and handed it to him. It was the scene of a wedding in a church. The scene was such that despite the audience and the background crowding the frame, it was impossible to miss the look of sheer love on the bride's face.

Ned now understood everything.

"This was the painting that the Mapleton lady bought. And the guy behind her is the thief and also our intruder. He probably heard her just like you had and is now randomly breaking into houses here to get back the painting."

He looked at Nancy for confirmation and she nodded.

"I still don't understand what he was even doing at the sale. But I can swear that was the painting I saw. George sent Rosalie a text and she confirmed it too. As soon as I learnt this, I texted you and headed over here to see if you recognise the lady. I was just getting out of the car when I received your message saying that nobody was home. So of course it surprised me when I saw that your door was ajar."

"And you figured it was the intruder, trying his luck again?"

"Yeah. I tried to creep in quietly but I think he'd either heard me or the car because I heard a door slam, somewhere towards the kitchen. By the time I reached there, the back door was wide open and I knew I'd lost him. At that time I thought the only way he could've escaped was to jump over the fence into the Lannister's yard so I decided to peep over the fence to see if I could just get a glimpse of him or something."

"Let me guess. He hadn't gone over and was still in the yard."

"Yes." Nancy said ruefully. "He was hiding behind the shed and he grabbed me and dragged me inside. I just managed to get a glimpse of his face before he knocked me out."

"Same guy?" He asked.

"Same guy." She confirmed.


	3. Chapter 3

"I'm just upset I got you into this mess, Nan. You'd never have been hurt if I hadn't asked you to help." Ned touched her face tenderly.

"Ned, you know I would've been more upset if you hadn't told me. And really, I'm fine. I've had worse playing soccer with George." She smiled, placing her hand over his.

"What are we doing now, Detective?" He grinned back.

"First track down the lady. Check if our suspicions are correct. And then go to the police."

"Short grey haired woman, you say. I think I can name about three off the top of my head. Anything else?"

"She had sort of a deep voice. And the bag she carried looked pretty expensive. And oh! I think she walked with just the slightest limp."

"You know that sounds Mrs Delway. Melinda Delway, wife of Dr Howard Delway. She's a good friend of mom's. She's had a limp since an accident a few years ago. She lives about ten houses down the street. We could go over right now."

"What are we waiting for?"

They left quickly, making sure to lock every door. The Delway residence was a big red bricked house with a tasteful garden in the front. When they rang the bell, it was opened by a small lady, about fifty years of age, her hair prematurely white.

"Ned! Sweety, what brings you here?" He face grew worried. "Are your parents all right?"

"Yes, they are good, Mrs Delway. This is my girlfriend, Nancy Drew. We were hoping you could help us with something. It's about the break-ins around here."

"Oh hello dear." said Mrs Delway, smiling at Nancy. "Edith once told me you've solved tons of cases. Why don't you come in and then we'll talk."

Ned saw Nancy blush as they followed her inside.

Once they were settled on the couch, Nancy spoke.

"Mrs Delway, has the intruder tried to break into your house yet?"

"No. But Howard and I have been really worried. We make sure doors are locked properly and have been sleeping with one eye open."

"This might seem really random, but were you at the yard sale at Hilway Street last weekend?"

"Oh yes, I was. I bought this lovely painting. I'm thinking of hanging it up right there." She said, pointing to an empty space on the wall to their right.

"Can we have a look at it?" Ned spoke up.

"Sure."

They had been expecting it but it was still a bit of a shock seeing the painting they had seen on Nancy's phone in real life. It was a small canvas about sixteen by sixteen inches. He couldn't make out the signature but turning the canvas over he found a half ripped sticker at the back.

Nancy and he huddled around it to get a closer look. There were just 2 bars in the bar code still intact but there were some lettters and numbers at the bottom.

_RHPL-TB-97..._

"River Heights Public Library!" Ned and Nancy exclaimed in unison.

Mrs Delway was looking at them, dumbfounded. While Nancy explained the situation to her, he went into the kitchen to keep their empty glasses of lemonade.

He was just walking back when when a loud crash and a high pitched scream stopped him dead in his tracks. He almost ran back but his instinct and reason made him proceed slowly, without making any noise.

The scene he saw from the doorway leading to the living room made his blood run cold.

A man stood in front of the centrepiece, his back towards Ned. He had a gun, pointed straight at Nancy's head.

"I knew you were trouble when I first saw you roaming around the neighborhood, I figured asking questions." The man said, shaking his head. "You should have heeded to the warning. Now you're going to find out what happens to kids who go around poking their noses in other's businesses."

He had to call the police. The intruder hadn't noticed him but Nancy and Mrs Delway obviously had. They were doing an incredible job of hiding their expression.

"How did you finally find the right house?" Nancy asked, her voice just a little too loud.

She was buying him time. Slowly, Ned tiptoed back into kitchen.

And then he realised something. His phone was still in his car. Fighting panic, he looked around desperately hoping to find Mrs Delway's phone lying around.

"You know I should thank you for that. Right after I knocked you out and escaped I saw her walking down the street. Talk about luck!" The man's voice drifted to him.

His eyes landed on a half open drawer at the corner of the room. Usually, while cooking, his mother kept her phone in a similar drawer..

Praying for luck, he opened it gently and almost cried out in happiness. There was a phone inside. And it wasn't locked.

He called the police, speaking as low possible. They would be here in five minutes.

Nancy was still talking. But he couldn't just hide out here while the man had a gun pointed at her head. He looked around to see what he could use as weapon.

A knife wouldn't be of much use against a gun. But maybe he could use something to knock him out if he tried something before the police arrived. There was a vase on the table which looked heavy enough. Just to be safe he picked up the sharpest knife he could find too and tiptoed back.

"...for the sake of privacy I don't meet my clients. We agree on a place of drop and the money is transferred to my account. Very discreet. Only this time the money reached me but the painting didn't reach the buyer because someone else picked it up first." The man nodded nastily at Mrs Delway who paled even further.

Ned looked right into Nancy's eyes and mouthed that he had called the police. The job now was to stall him.

"Why didn't you go after her immediately, Mr Farven? Would've saved you a lot of trouble." She remarked.

"Frankly because at that time, I thought she was the buyer. And even if I had my suspicions, I was using a stolen car because my getaway car gave up on me just when I needed it. I was pretty sure the police were after me already. You see, I was having quite a rough day."

"But why bother about getting back the painting? You already have your money, anyway."

"Oh. If everything was so easy. They're after me now. You see, there's hundreds of thousands and maybe even millions of dollars involved. My own head's at stake."

"And you think killing two innocent people is the only way?"

"Well, I can't trust young girls to keep their mouths shut, can we? You're asking too many questions. Hands where I can see them!" Farven shouted shifting the gun so that it pointed at Mrs Delway.

Three things happened at once.

Mrs Delway screamed at the same Ned lunged at the thief who fired a shot. Through the corner of his eye, he saw Nancy launch herself at Mrs Delway, pushing her out of the bullet's path which ultimately lodged itself harmlessly into the wall. Ned swung the vase and connected with Farven's skull instantly knocking him unconscious.

The police burst in just as Nancy ran into his arms.

"And again Ms Drew and Mr Nickerson you have proved to be a great help for the River Heights Police Department. We're forever indebted." Chief McGinnis, the new police chief smiled at them from across the desk in his office.

"Please call me Nancy, Chief. And really, it was no big deal. Just one thing. Did he reveal who his client was?" Nancy smiled back.

"Not yet. But the recording you managed to take has been really helpful. Farven has been been wanted for over a year for art heists from over five museums. His recorded confession would ensure he goes to prison and some time there I'm sure would have him revealing the details."

"Well, that was exciting." Nancy grinned as they walked to her car.

"Exciting! Nan, I almost died of fright." Ned replied, in mock anguish.

"Well, stick around. I have a hunch there's a lot more to come." She winked.

"You're something else." He laughed as she reached up to kiss him.


End file.
